The feature attraction at the USS Silversides Submarine Museum is the World War II submarine USS Silversides. Commissioned just a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, USS Silversides completed 14 combat war patrols in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. USS Silversides is officially credited with sinking 23 major Japanese ships (the third highest total for any U.S. Navy Submarine) for an approximate tonnage of 90,080. Silversides received the Presidential Unit Citation and 12 Battle Stars for her wartime service. Portions of the 1943 film Destination Tokyo were actually inspired by the real-life events which occurred aboard the USS Silversides during the war.

Decommissioned from active service in 1946, USS Silversides was moved to Chicago where it was utilized by the U.S. Navy Reserve until 1969. Moving to Muskegon, Michigan in 1987, USS Silversides has been painstakingly maintained in its World War II configuration and is considered the U.S. Navy's most successful surviving World War II submarine. In 1993, the Prohibition-era U.S. Coast Guard Cutter McLane joined the USS Silversides on display at the museum.

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